Spanish 256: Reel Images: Spanish Cinema from Buñuel to Almodóvar Course Descrip

Spanish 256: Reel Images: Spanish Cinema from Buñuel to Almodóvar

Department of Modern Languages & Literatures Moravian College Spring 2015

Meeting Times: MW 10:20-11:30am Location: Comenius 411

Instructor: Claudia Mesa, Ph.D. Office: Comenius 406 Phone: (610) 861-1397 E-mail: [email protected] Office hours: MW 11:35am-1:00pm and by appointment

Course Description

This course offers an opportunity to examine main trends in Spanish cinema from Luis Buñuel’s surrealistic provocations to Pedro Almodóvar’s irreverent, yet emotional portraits of Spain and its inhabitants. We will learn about the history, theory and criticism of Spanish cinema while paying special attention to the representation of violence and repression, issues of immigration and exile, and the intersection between film and literature. This course is conducted in Spanish. Pre-requisites: Spanish 210, 215 or instructor’s consent.

Goals

Students will acquire a better understanding of the Spanish Peninsula through the study of film and secondary sources. They will learn to discuss films in terms of subject matter and style using the appropriate terminology. They will recognize the importance of history, cultural background, and of critical and popular audience in the appreciation of film. Students will learn to write critically, concisely, and clearly in Spanish about film. Students will develop a practice of writing both formally and informally through film journals, film reviews and analytical essays. Moreover, students will communicate with greater sophistication and ease in spoken Spanish about the class topics through formal presentations and class discussion.

Films

All films will be available through Blackboard http://blackboard.moravian.edu/. To access the films, please set up an account and enroll yourself in this course after our first meeting. In Blackboard look for: SPAN256.SP15: Reel Images: Spanish Film. Note that you will need to be on campus to be able to watch them. Also expect to have films put on reserve at Reeves Library. Readings will be posted on Blackboard.

1 VERY IMPORTANT: When watching a film on Blackboard, please use Safari or Google Chrome as your Internet browser. It takes about 2 minutes to open. If this doesn't work for you, the reason may be that you need to install the VLC player for Macs and/or PCs.

To install it the version for Macs: http://get.videolan.org/vlc/2.1.5/macosx/vlc-2.1.5.dmg

To install the version for Windows: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-windows.html

Reference Materials

Corrigan, Timothy. A Short Guide to Writing about Film. Seventh edition. Pearson Education, 2010.

Purdue OWL: MLA Formatting and Style Guide https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/08/

Diccionario de la Real Academia de la lengua española http://lema.rae.es/drae/

WordReference.com http://www.wordreference.com/

Learning Assistance and Accommodations for a Disability

Students who wish to request accommodations in this class for a disability must contact Ms. Elaine Mara, Assistant Director of Academic & Disability Support, located on the first floor of Monocacy Hall (phone 610-861-1401). Accommodations cannot be provided until authorization is received from the Academic & Disability Support office.

Expectations and Evaluation

1. Attendance and participation

Students are expected to arrive prepared to participate in all class activities by having read and watched the assigned work and completed all assignments. Participation should be in Spanish. I expect full commitment on your part to make this class work. Simply being present is not considered active participation. Participation involves collaborating in-group activities, volunteering answers, asking questions and engaging in class discussions.

You need to come to class and be on time. Every unexcused absence will result in a lowering of the final grade by one point. Please turn off your cell phone during class.

2 2. Papers

You will write two short papers and one long research paper based on a primary source. All papers must follow the MLA format. You will have the opportunity to revise each paper at least once. Be aware that content and grammar will be considered when grading these assignments. Details for each paper will be distributed in class or posted on Blackboard. Papers must be typed and double-spaced. Late papers will lose 10 points per day, starting at the time of class.

3. Oral presentation

Schedule and presentation details will be posted on Blackboard.

4. Film Journal

You need to keep a film journal for every film you see. Although the journal may include personal observations, I will generally ask you to elaborate on specific aspects of the film. This assignment will include formal, informal and exploratory writing exercises. I will collect the film journals after every class. If your handwriting is not legible, they should be typed and double-spaced.

5. Time Commitment

Film classes are very appealing but they also take some extra time because you need to watch the films ahead of time and then complete any writing and/or reading activity assigned for they following day. You should expect to dedicate at least three hours of study and preparation outside of class for every hour of class time.

Academic Integrity

Academic dishonesty and plagiarism are serious offenses and will not be tolerated. They will be handled according to the Moravian policy on Academic Honesty. If you cheat you will be given a grade of zero for that assignment or a failing grade in the course. You will also be reported to the Dean of Students and “a copy of the record [will remain] in the Division of Student Affairs until the student completes the degree or certification program.” Also, please note that, “When writing creative or research papers in a foreign language, students may not use electronic translation services. Utilizing such tools without express permission of the instructor constitutes plagiarism. The use of electronic dictionaries for single-word inquiries or short idiomatic expressions is permissible at the discretion of professors in the Department of Modern Languages.”

For detailed information please see the Student Handbook: http://www.moravian.edu/studentlife/handbook/academic/academic2.html

3 Final Course Grade

Participation 15% Film Review 15% Short essay 15% Oral presentation 15% Long essay 20% Film Journal 20%

Letter Grades

A 93-100 B 83-86 C 73-76 D 63-66 A- 90-92 B- 80-82 C- 70-72 D- 60-62 B+ 87-89 C+ 77-79 D+ 67-69 F 0-59

4 Spanish 256 Dr. Mesa PROGRAMA DEL CURSO This program is subject to change Last revised 01/24/2015. Semana 1

Enero 19 Introducción y presentación del curso Film: Luis Buñuel, Un chien andalou (1929)

Enero 21 Film: Eduardo Jimeno, Salida de la misa de doce del Pilar (de Zaragoza) (1896) (In class) Tatjana Pavlovic et al., “Silent Cinema and its Pioneers (1906-1930)” ---. “Surrealism (1924-1930) and the Advent of Sound (the Second Republic: 1931-1936)” María Cardalliaguet Gómez-Málaga, “The Spanish Civil War through Film” Semana 2 à Final Day for Course Changes is January 26

Enero 26 Film: José Luis Cuerda, La lengua de las mariposas (1999) Thomas Deveny, “Coming of Age in the Spanish Civil War”

Enero 28 Timothy Corrigan, “Writing About the Movies” and “Beginning to Think, Preparing to Watch, and Starting to Write” (19-37) Tatjana Povlovic “Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)

Semana 3

Febrero 2 Film: Ken Loach, Land and Freedom (1995) Ian Christie, “Film for a Spanish Republic”

Febrero 4 Film: David Trueba, Solados de Salamina (2003) Gerd Gemünden, “How to View a Film”

Semana 4

Febrero 9 Hanno Ehrlicher, “Batallas del recuerdo. La memoria de la guerra civil en Land and Freedom (Ken Loach, 1995) y Soldados de Salamina (David Trueba, 2002) Timothy Corrigan, “Film Terms and Topics for Film Analysis and Writing” (38-48)

Febrero 11 Entrega del ensayo 1: Reseña de una película Timothy Corrigan, “Film Terms and Topics for Film Analysis and Writing” (48-81)

5 Semana 5

Febrero 16 Film: El Laberinto del Fauno (2006) Jane Hanley, “The walls fall down: Fantasy and power in El laberinto del fauno”

Febrero 18 Timothy Corrigan, “Six Approaches to Writing About Film” (87-101)

Semana 6

Febrero 23 Film: Antonio Mercero, Espérame en el cielo (1988) Sheelagh Ellwood, “The Moving Image of the Franci Regime: Noticiarios y Documentales 1943-1975” en Spanish Cultural Studies Juan Zavala et. al. “¿Quién presumía de poner el ‘mundo entero al alcance de todos los españoles’?” en El cine español contado con sencillez

Febrero 25 Film: Carlos Saura, Cría cuervos (1976) Paul Julian Smith, “Cría cuervos…: The Past is not Past” http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/527-cria-cuervos-the-past-is-not-past

Semana 7

Marzo 2 José Manuel Lechado, “La movida, una crónica de los 80” “La movida madrileña-a brief history” http://www.madrid-uno.com/society/movida.htm Tatjana Pavlovic et al., “Cinema of the Transition” The Period of Disenchantment

Marzo 4 Film: María Jesús Gutiérrez, El calentito (2005) Optional: Hamilton M. Stapell, “Just a Teardrop in the Rain? The Movida Madrileña and Democratic Identity Formation in the Capital, 1979-1986."

Semana 8 No hay clase (Receso de primavera)

Semana 9

Marzo 16 à Entrega del ensayo 2 Pedro Almodóvar, ¿Qué he hecho yo para merecer esto? (1984) Tatjana Pavlovic et al., “Post-Franco Spain: The Pedro Almodóvar Phenomenon (1980-1991)” (69-79) Marzo 18 Film: Pedro Almodóvar, Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios (1987) Marvin D’Lugo, “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” (1988) Paul Julian Smith, “Femininity by Design” (From: Desire Unlimited) (1975-1979)”

6 Semana 10

Marzo 23 RSA Conference-No hay clase

Marzo 25 RSA Conference-No hay clase

Semana 11 Last Day for Withdrawal with W is April 3

Marzo 30 Film: Alejandro Amenábar, Tesis (1996) Jason E. Klodt, “En el fondo te gusta: Titillation, Desire, and the Spectator's Gaze in Alejandro Amenábar's Tesis” Barry Jordan, Genre and Screen Violence: Revisiting Tesis (Alejandro Amenábar, 1995

Abril 1 Film: Pedro Almodóvar, Carne trémula (1997) Frederic Strauss, Conversaciones con Pedro Almodóvar (50-56) Rikki Morgan-Tamosunas, “Narrative, Desire and Critical Discourse in Pedro Almodóvar's Carne trémula” Semana 12

Abril 6 Film: Alejandro Amenábar, Abre los ojos (1997) Nancy Berthier, “Cine y nacionalidad: El caso del remake” Daniel Herbert, “Sky’s The Limit: Transnationality and Identity in Abre los ojos and Vanilla Sky” Carlos Javier García, “Horizontes discursivos y desconcierto en la película Abre los ojos”

Abril 8 Film: Isabel Coixet, Mi vida sin mí (2003) Isabel Maurer Queipo, “Isabel Coixet y su vida sin mí” Belén Vidal, “Love, loneliness and laundromats: affect and artifice in the melodramas of Isabel Coixet” Nuria Triana Toribio, “Anyplace North America: On the Transnational Road with Isabel Coixet”

Semana 13

Abril 13 Receso de Pascua

Abril 15 Film: Álvaro Pastor y Antonio Naharro, Yo, también (2009)

Semana 14

Abril 20 Film: Alejandro Amenábar Mar Adentro (2004) Ramón Sampedro, Cartas desde el infierno (selecciones)

Abril 22 Film: Pedro Almodóvar, La mala educación (2004) Susanne Igler, “Lo que quedó enterrado: transgresiones de tabúes sociales en La mala educación (Pedro Almodóvar, 2004) y Mar adentro (Alejandro Amenábar, 2004)

Semana 15

Abril 27 Film: Pablo Berger, Blancanieves (2012)

Abril 29 Writing Workshop Conclusiones y Premios Goya para las películas de la clase

Final paper due: Tuesday, May 5 at 1:30PM